Stones tribute act aims for Satisfaction

Chris LeGrand was thinking about the many successful Beatles tribute bands touring the country when he had what might be considered an epiphany.

“I felt that if The Beatles shows were successful, that a Rolling Stones tribute band would be successful as well,” he says.

LeGrand put together a plan, reached out to a group of musicians and Satisfaction: The International Rolling Stones Show was born.

Eleven years later, Satisfaction performs Friday at Villa Macri in Granger during a very significant year in Rolling Stones history: the band’s 50th anniversary.

In a way, it’s also ironic that LeGrand developed the idea of a Rolling Stones tribute band after being inspired by the many tribute bands and theatrical shows that pay homage to groups such as The Beatles.

In the early days of the British Invasion, the press promoted the idea of a rivalry between the mop-topped and suit-wearing Beatles and the “bad boy”

Rolling Stones.

The rivalry between the bands never really existed, but there was a rivalry between the fans of the two iconic groups.

LeGrand says he fell hard for the Stones.

“My parents were more into 1950s music,” the Texas-born LeGrand says.

LeGrand says he first heard The Rolling Stones music as an elementary school student. His older brother turned him on to “Jumping Jack Flash” and “Honky Tonk Woman.”

Those two songs made LeGrand curious.

He says he became a hard-core fan back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the band released the “Some Girls” and “Emotional Rescue” albums.

“I really liked ‘Miss You’ and ‘Beast of Burden’ as a teenager,” LeGrand says. “And it’s the music that you hear as a teen that’s the most important.”

LeGrand says that The Rolling Stones possessed one quality that made the band and its music appealing: authenticity.

And the challenge for any tribute band, he says, is to bring that kind of authenticity to its performances.

“The sound has to be authentic, the look has to be authentic, and the presentation has to be authentic,” LeGrand says.

The band members watch a lot of video of Rolling Stones performances. They study the records and live recordings seeking to find the best version of each song. “The key word,” LeGrand says, “is authentic.”

In concert

Satisfaction: The International Rolling Stones Show performs at 6 p.m. Friday at Villa Macri, 225 Toscana Blvd., Granger. Tickets for this event are $10 and can be purchased at Villa Macri, and Pinnacle Athletic Club and Spas Factory Direct, both in Mishawaka.